Oh Yeah, Miss NJ Can Keep Her Crown

Oddsmakers immediately made her a 5-2 favorite for the Miss America pageant, due to her skill in the talent competition, which this year tests nipple strength.

Pageant: Miss New Jersey can keep crown despite racy photos [AP/CNN.com]

Miss NJ Releases Photos; World Bored

In other scintillating photos people were waiting to see but aren’t quite sure why news, Miss New Jersey Amy Polumbo released the photos someone had blackmailed her with on Today this morning.

The photos are pretty boring even for embarrassing college shots; the one shows her boyfriend kinda sorta biting her nipple through her shirt, there’s one where she has pumpkins over her boobs, one where she’s spreading her legs with jeans one and others where she’s — gasp! — drinking. In all of the photos, None of them are nearly as risque or stupid as photo #2 here.

The organizers are meeting to decide whether to strip her of her crown. If she’s de-sashed, the only reason ever to watch this stupid beauty contest is gone.

Miss N.J. releases blackmail photos [Today]

Miss NJ Controversy Somehow Boring

Ahh, let’s keep updated on the ongoing Miss New Jersey Risque Pics Scandal™, the thing we’re paying attention to because it’s summer and it’s not like there’s a war going on and it’s too hot to think about real things. To recap: The current Miss New Jersey, Amy Polumbo, said last week someone had attempted to blackmail her with photos from Facebook. She wouldn’t step down as Miss NJ, because, uh, hello, it’s New Jersey.

Now Polumbo has received a second set of pictures from the blackmailer. She said she wouldn’t step down; the pageant officials and/or authorities now have the photos.

Meanwhile, suspicion has been cast on the runner-up of the Miss NJ pageant as being the one who sent the photos. She denies it, which is kind of lame; if she were the person actually blackmailing Polumbo, it would immediately re-invigorate the, uh, sport of beauty pageants, which haven’t been watched by any human being in America since 1988, except for the Little Miss Sunshine one.

Miss N.J. receives new threat [Camden Courier-Post]

Quickies: Second encore

• Okay, no Ben backlash here: This 1,200 photo montage of Ben Franklin by Tom Gralish is pretty damn cool. Especially when Franklin Mills (left) is included! [Inky]

• 89-year-old Walter Cronkite has a new 65-year-old girlfriend. Man, imagine the harem Ben Franklin would have if he were alive today! [Inky]

• Did youse all see the Sixers game Friday night? Ehm, maybe not. But the Sixers were down 16, rallied to tie it, hit a three at the buzzer of the second OT to send it into triple-overtime, then won it by a point. And, then, in a great encore, they lost by 28 yesterday! Whoo! When do the hockey playoffs start? [DN]

• And, in case you haven’t seen it yet, Miss New Jersey has a blog. Miss New Jersey? Isn’t that like being the funniest war movie? (Rimshot.) [Camden Courier-Post]

• The Washington Post’s ombudsman gets something wrong, and Will Bunch lays the smack down. That’s my boy! [Poynter Online via Eschaton]